Improvement At QB And RB Are Keys To Notre Dame Getting To The Next Level
There is not one way to evaluate how effective a program is at producing the talent needed to compete at a championship level. Ideally, a broad analysis includes statistics, big-time production, recruiting success, development and of course, what kind of NFL talent is a program producing.
This article will look at the talent produced in the NFL, and how it is one way to evaluate where Notre Dame has done well in producing top talent, and where Notre Dame has struggled - and therefore must improve - when it comes to producing a championship level offense.
OFFENSIVE LINE
Sports Illustrated recently named Notre Dame “Offensive Line U” based on how much NFL talent the Irish produced during the Harry Hiestand era. Notre Dame had a bit of a lull when it came to recruiting and developing the line prior to Heistand’s arrival, and it remains to be seen what will follow as his tenure becomes further in the past.
But there is no mistake about which program has produced the best offensive linemen in the last six years. During that stretch (2014-19 drafts), Notre Dame has produced six offensive linemen that went in the first three rounds, which includes four first rounders. No other college football program has produced more than four total offensive line draft picks in the first three rounds.
Three of the five All-Pro offensive linemen (Ronnie Stanley, Zack Martin, Quenton Nelson) were Notre Dame graduates that played for Hiestand.
Notre Dame also produced top offensive lines on the field, and I would put the 2015 and 2017 units against any offensive line in the country in those seasons. We need to see if Jeff Quinn can develop the kind of lines that Hiestand put on the field, but even the struggles of 2018 and 2019 resulted in the Irish having at the very least quality offensive lines.
TIGHT END
Notre Dame has produced six drafted tight ends since Brian Kelly arrived in South Bend. No team has more and only Stanford can match that total. In fact, in the last decade only six other teams have produced more than three drafted tight ends.
Sports Illustrated ranked Notre Dame fourth in its “Tight End U” breakdown, but a strong case could be made that the Irish should be no worse than second. Of course, Notre Dame will add to its total this season when Cole Kmet gets picked in the draft.
The Irish landed the nation’s top tight end tandem in the 2020 recruiting class, have a talented four-star recruit already committed in 2021 and are showing no signs of slowing down when it comes to recruiting some of the nation’s top tight ends. Based on newly hired position coach John McNulty’s track record as a coach, I also don’t expect the production from the position to take a step back.
WIDE RECEIVER
Notre Dame ranked eighth in the Sports Illustrated “Wide Receiver U” breakdown, and that is partly because the year Golden Tate was drafted in the second round is the first year where the cutoff begins, so he doesn’t count.
It is amazing how many NFL wide receivers Notre Dame has produced the last thirty plus years, especially when you consider the Irish program has often been one accused of lacking athleticism at skill positions, and one that is focused on power football.
Kelly has had five of his wide receivers get selected in the NFL Draft, including a pair in the first round. The number of drafted wideouts will grow by one this year when Chase Claypool gets picked, and it wouldn’t shock me if he becomes the third first round pick at wide receiver under Kelly.
The 2020 wide receiver depth chart is loaded, and the 2020 recruiting class is quite talented, so things are trending in a positive direction. Outside of the 2017 season, Notre Dame has had very good wide receiver units that either had elite players at the top, or very good depth.
If anyone tries to tell you that Notre Dame lacked weapons for its quarterbacks the last two seasons just ignore them, because they are wrong.
RUNNING BACK
Running back has been a bit more of a problem for Notre Dame in the last decade-plus. There have been years where the position was a strength, but injuries and a poor stretch of recruiting (2016-19 classes) have put this position group behind the three listed above, especially when it comes to producing NFL talent.
Kelly’s early backfields were quite good, and if not for injuries (Jonas Gray) and off-the-field issues (Cierre Wood) the number of drafted players would have been higher. Notre Dame was in such good shape at running back in 2010 and 2011 that Theo Riddick spent those two seasons at wide receiver. Riddick moved back to running back in his final season, leading the team in rushing as the Irish rolled to a 12-0 regular season record, and Riddick ultimately got drafted.
The Irish backfield lacked depth in 2013 and 2014, and an injury to Tarean Folston early in the season-opener depleted the 2015 lineup of depth. Fortunately, converted wide receiver CJ Prosise emerged and rushed for 1,029 yards and 11 touchdowns. He was ultimately replaced by Josh Adams, who finished his career as Notre Dame’s fifth all-time leading rusher (3,198 yards) despite leaving a year early.
Notre Dame’s 2018 backfield was outstanding, but the depth behind starter Tony Jones Jr. in 2019 was problematic. We are now seeing the mostly poor recruiting by the previous running backs coach is impacting the depth chart.
Moving forward this position remains a major question mark, although the signing of elite speedster Chris Tyree in the 2020 class was a strong first step for running backs coach Lance Taylor. Now he needs to follow that up with consecutive strong classes if he’s going to get the talent at the position back on track, and on the level of the positions listed above.
QUARTERBACK
A strong case could be made - and I’d certainly make it - that quarterback has the been the biggest problem area for the Notre Dame football team the last decade. From 1999 to 2009, Notre Dame produced three of the better quarterbacks in program history (Brady Quinn, Jimmy Clausen, Jarious Jackson), but the decade that followed has been a major struggle.
There have been flashes, with Everett Golson, Malik Zaire, DeShone Kizer and Brandon Wimbush all showing flashes of being impact signal callers, but injuries and/or regression kept all four of them from becoming championship caliber quarterbacks.
I often wonder what the 2015 team would have looked like had Zaire not been injured, and believe he was the player that had the talent, leadership ability and attitude to get the Irish over the hump against the nation’s top programs.
Current starter Ian Book has impressive numbers from a big picture standpoint, but his play and numbers against the better teams on the schedule leaves much to be desired. If he can turn that around in 2020 it could reverse the negative trend of regression and failure in big games, things could start getting the quarterback position back on track.
The failure to develop standout talent Phil Jurkovec - who has since transferred to Boston College - continued a disturbing trend of failing to produce the top recruits. Notre Dame will now look to 2020 signee Drew Pyne and 2021 commit Tyler Buchner to get things truly turned around, but that was the same hope for Jurkovec, Wimbush, Kizer, Zaire and every other top quarterback signed since Clausen departed, and all came up short for one reason or another.
FINAL ANALYSIS
Here’s the reality of this situation for Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish must continue producing top-level offensive lines and tight ends, and it must continue putting out professionals at wide receiver. But until the quarterback position improves from a talent, development, mental and production standpoint the Irish offense will continue to come up short on the big stage.
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